Quote:Inquiry points to wider Secret Service scandal involving as many as 21 women
By David Nakamura and Ed O'Keefe, Tuesday, April 17, 6:31 AM

Investigators believe that as many as 21 women were brought by U.S. Secret Service and military personnel to the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, last week during a night of carousing, a dramatic increase in the number of women previously disclosed by government officials.

Officials said 11 Secret Service and 10 military personnel are suspected of misconduct that took place before President Obama arrived in Colombia for an economic summit. Initial reports suggested that the military personnel, some of whom were confined to their rooms after the scandal broke, had violated curfew, while the Secret Service members had engaged with the women, who were allegedly working as prostitutes.

But Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Tuesday that Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told her that the preliminary investigation has determined that 20 or 21 women were brought to the hotel last Wednesday night. Agency investigators in Cartagena have obtained copies of the women's identification cards, which they were required to present at the hotel, and are attempting to interview some of the women, said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), head of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

King said investigators have determined that none of the women were minors.

In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said that Sullivan briefed Collins on the investigation "and advised her that 21 U.S. personnel were involved, to include 11 Secret Service personnel. The allegations involved misconduct with women. The exact number of individuals beyond the U.S. personnel is still under investigation."

The disclosures make clear that what first appeared to be an isolated case of misbehavior was in fact a night of more widespread debauchery that included heavy drinking and a trip to the Pleyclub, a strip club where the men allegedly paid for women's services. The participation of two Secret Service supervisors, according to people with knowledge of the investigation, suggests that the men had little fear of repercussions -- until hotel workers and Colombian police reported the matter to the U.S. Embassy.

At his daily briefing, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama has "confidence" in Sullivan's leadership of the Secret Service and is awaiting the results of an internal investigation.

"Sullivan acted quickly in response to this incident, and he's overseeing an investigation as we speak," Carney said. "This incident needs to be investigated, and it is being investigated. We need to see what the investigation reveals. We're not going to speculate about the conclusions it might reach."

Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Sullivan told her that "the most important quality for a Secret Service officer is character. If the facts prove to be as reported on this, this is an incredible lack of character and breach of security, and potentially extremely serious."

The Secret Service has revoked the top-secret security clearances of the 11 men under investigation and placed them on administrative leave. The men have also turned in their agency BlackBerrys, said King, who said the men did not have any sensitive documents in their hotel rooms. He added that some of the men said they did not know that the women were prostitutes.

"Even if they weren't prostitutes, it's not right to bring foreigners back to their rooms," King said. "It would probably be safer if they were prostitutes because then we would know who they were working for."

Two of the Secret Service personnel are senior agents paid at the higher levels of the government's pay scale, according to congressional officials with knowledge of the investigation.

The two agents, whom one official referred to as "GS-14s," are near the top of the General Schedule, the compensation system for federal employees. Depending on where the agents are based and other factors, they could earn $110,000 or more annually. Two people with knowledge of the investigation described the men as supervisors.

. . .

The rules at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, are more vague. According to the regulations, employees are prohibited from engaging in any "criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or other conduct prejudicial to the government," an official said. . . .

(04-18-2012, 05:58 PM)Virtual Bison Wrote: Too bad they are investing their US dollars on the Columbian economy instead of patronizing domestic hookers. That should be a crime in and of itself.

Do you think they used tax money to finance this escapade?

(04-18-2012, 05:58 PM)Virtual Bison Wrote: BTW: I noticed how the queen bitch Susan Collins is sticking her nose in this investigation. I guess after all the lies she has been promoting, he wants to do some grand standing and pretend to have some sense of ethics. She will not be running until 2014. I wish she were running this year so I could contribute to her opponent.

(04-18-2012, 02:47 PM)Armando Ramos Wrote: Ever wonder how a notorious stalker and crackpot like George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin) could have gotten the time of day from the SS?

Quote:There was a language gap between the woman, 24, who declined to give her full name, and the American man who sat beside her at the bar and eventually invited her to his room. She agreed, stopped on the way to buy condoms but told him he would have to give her a gift. He asked how much. Not knowing he worked for Mr. Obama but figuring he was a well-heeled foreigner, she said, she told him $800.

The price alone, she said, indicates she is an escort, not a prostitute. "You have higher rank," she said. "An escort is someone who a man can take out to dinner. She can dress nicely, wear nice makeup, speak and act like a lady. That's me."

By 6:30 the next morning, after being awoken by a telephone call from the hotel front desk reminding her that, under the hotel's rules for prostitutes, she had to leave, whatever deal the two had agreed on had broken down. She recalled that the man told her he had been drunk when they discussed the price. He countered with an offer of 50,000 pesos, the equivalent of about $30.

Disgusted with such a low amount, she pressed the matter. He became angry, ordered her out of the room and called her an expletive, she said.

She said she was crying and went across the hall, where another escort had spent the night with an American man from the same group. Both women began trying to get the money.

...Eventually, she lowered her demand to $250, which she said was the amount she has to pay the man who helps find her customers. Eager to resolve the matter fast, the American men eventually gave her a combination of dollars and pesos worth about $225, and she left.

Quote:a gift. He asked how much. Not knowing he worked for Mr. Obama but figuring he was a well-heeled foreigner, she said, she told him $800.

(04-20-2012, 12:09 PM)Ben Johnson Wrote: Are we sure these guys didn't get into the SS the same way Obama got into Harvard? They don't sound like a swift bunch.

Quote:Secret Service supervisors involved in Colombia scandal identified
By David Nakamura and Carol D. Leonnig, Published: April 19

One of the Secret Service supervisors ousted from the agency this week for their involvement in the Colombia prostitution scandal made light of his official protective work on his Facebook page, joking about a picture of himself standing watch behind Sarah Palin.

David Randall Chaney, 48, posted several shots of himself on duty in a dark suit and sunglasses, including one that shows him behind the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee during that campaign.

"I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?" Chaney wrote in the comments section after friends had marveled at the photo. He is married and has an adult son.
. . .

Palin stressed she viewed the scandal as emblematic of Obama's poor management. "Look who's running the show," she said. "People will say its boys being boys. I've had enough of these men being dogs and not being responsible for the taxpayer's dollars."

Quote:The price alone, she said, indicates she is an escort, not a prostitute. "You have higher rank," she said.

(04-21-2012, 01:06 AM)Don Dresden Wrote: A Secret Service agent with a Facebook page? What part of "Secret" does he not understand?

Quote:Palin stressed she viewed the scandal as emblematic of Obama's poor management. "Look who's running the show," she said.